Landstar System vs Saia
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The short version
- Landstar System is the larger business, with $4.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.2B for Saia.
- Saia grew revenue faster (0.8%, against −1.6%).
- Saia kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (10.9% operating margin, against 3.2%).
- Landstar System turned more of its sales into free cash flow (4.5% FCF margin, against 0.9%).
- Landstar System earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (24.9%, against 10.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Landstar System’s earnings: a P/E of 45.8x against 32.1x for Saia.
| Latest fiscal year | LSTR · FY25 | SAIA · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $5.6B | $8.9B |
| Revenue | $4.7B | $3.2B |
| Free cash flow | $215M | $27.3M |
| Net income | $115M | $255M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −1.6% | 0.8% |
| 5-year growth | 2.8% | 12.2% |
| Share count change | −2.3% | −0.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 3.2% | 10.9% |
| Net margin | 2.4% | 7.9% |
| FCF margin | 4.5% | 0.9% |
| Return on capital | 24.9% | 10.2% |
| Return on equity | 13.0% | 10.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$375M | $144M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.9x | 0.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $305M | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 45.8x | 32.1x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
LSTR $3.2B
SAIA $1.3B
FY17
LSTR $3.6B
SAIA $1.4B
FY18
LSTR $4.6B
SAIA $1.7B
FY19
LSTR $4.1B
SAIA $1.8B
FY20
LSTR $4.1B
SAIA $1.8B
FY21
LSTR $6.5B
SAIA $2.3B
FY22
LSTR $7.4B
SAIA $2.8B
FY23
LSTR $5.3B
SAIA $2.9B
FY24
LSTR $4.8B
SAIA $3.2B
FY25
LSTR $4.7B
SAIA $3.2B
LSTR
SAIA
Operating margin
FY16
LSTR 7.1%
SAIA 6.3%
FY17
LSTR 6.7%
SAIA 6.7%
FY18
LSTR 7.2%
SAIA 8.5%
FY19
LSTR 7.3%
SAIA 8.5%
FY20
LSTR 6.1%
SAIA 9.9%
FY21
LSTR 7.7%
SAIA 14.6%
FY22
LSTR 7.7%
SAIA 16.9%
FY23
LSTR 6.5%
SAIA 16.0%
FY24
LSTR 5.2%
SAIA 15.0%
FY25
LSTR 3.2%
SAIA 10.9%
LSTR
SAIA
Free cash flow
FY16
LSTR $168M
SAIA $27.1M
FY17
LSTR $123M
SAIA −$28.9M
FY18
LSTR $288M
SAIA $32.8M
FY19
LSTR $288M
SAIA −$14.8M
FY20
LSTR $180M
SAIA $78.0M
FY21
LSTR $253M
SAIA $96.9M
FY22
LSTR $597M
SAIA $106M
FY23
LSTR $368M
SAIA $138M
FY24
LSTR $256M
SAIA −$460M
FY25
LSTR $215M
SAIA $27.3M
LSTR
SAIA
Return on capital
FY16
LSTR 46.6%
SAIA 9.6%
FY17
LSTR 54.4%
SAIA 15.0%
FY18
LSTR 54.8%
SAIA 14.3%
FY19
LSTR 43.4%
SAIA 13.4%
FY20
LSTR 39.7%
SAIA 14.5%
FY21
LSTR 62.8%
SAIA 23.5%
FY22
LSTR 65.7%
SAIA 27.8%
FY23
LSTR 47.0%
SAIA 22.7%
FY24
LSTR 37.5%
SAIA 17.7%
FY25
LSTR 24.9%
SAIA 10.2%
LSTR
SAIA
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.